


If You Could Only See The Way (She Loves Me)

by maryfic



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Gen, Hogwarts Era, M/M, Marauders' Era
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-04
Updated: 2015-11-04
Packaged: 2018-04-30 00:39:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5143940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maryfic/pseuds/maryfic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Severus and Lily (along with the Marauders (shock!)) plot behind everyone’s backs in order to subvert a prophecy that two wizards are determined to make come true, at any cost.</p>
            </blockquote>





	If You Could Only See The Way (She Loves Me)

Chapter One

September 1st, 1971

Severus and Lily entered from the muggle side of Platform 9 and ¾’s one right after the other, Severus not stopping for a few feet as his best friend crashed through afterwards, her eyes firmly squeezed shut. The train squealed and they opened, her expression shifting into the familiar joy that came over her whenever magic happened around her, be it her own or Severus’. 

He leaned on his cart and watched her take in everything. He, as always, saw only her. 

But he wasn’t the only boy that noticed her that day. 

Leaning out a train window, watching the crowd, eleven-year-old James Potter caught a glimpse of bright red hair and flashing green eyes, and his sigh joined Severus’ to get lost in the crowd of children and parents. Then he got distracted by Sirius Black banging into the compartment behind and he turned to greet his friend. But the redhead stayed in the back of his mind, and after finding out her name at the Sorting, and then getting her in his house, James was sure they would be best friends. 

*******  
December 21st, 1971

“I hate you, James Potter! You and your stupid friends!” Lily shrieked, covered from head to toe in acidic looking green sludge, courtesy of a bucket swinging upside down over her head. The torches along the hallway flared from her anger, accidental magic sending them to lick along the ceiling of the corridor. Her wand was out and pointed dead center at a smirking Sirius Black’s face, while James tried to recover and backpedal. 

“It was just a prank, Lily, and it was supposed to be Snivellus anyway! How were we supposed to know you’d be down here? He’s the dungeon snake.” 

Lily screeched again at this maligning of her best friend, Slytherin or not (she felt the house rivalry showed a great amount of idiocy among those who practiced it) and she made to cast a spell before her wand was snatched from her hand on the downward stroke. Turning in place, she found Severus behind her, who hissed, “Professor!” as Slughorn made his plodding way around the corner behind the self-styled Marauders and made short work of the mess in the hallway and all over Lily, sending them all on their way, with an admonition to behave better, as Father Christmas would soon be coming to see good little wizards and witches. 

Lily began to avoid her common room after the holidays, but McGonagall soon caught wind of this behavior and assigned her once a week detentions to interact with her housemates. Try as she might, she could not avoid the four boys, who, by the end of first year, included Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew; the two shyer boys tended to let James and SIrius take the lead in much of their activities. 

************

January 9th, 1973 

The darkness was only broken by a flicker of the broken half of a candle that Lily held. 

“Make a wish, Severus,” she whispered as the spell she’d cast moments before indicated it to be 12:01 on January 9fh, her best friend’s thirteenth birthday. A small box lay between them as she offered the candle to the newly christened teenager. 

Severus rolled his eyes, but his heart was going to pound its way out of his chest, he was sure, as he watched the candlelight play over Lily’s earnest features and make her eyes glow in a way that made his stomach shift in a way it never had before. “Oh, fine. I suppose you want me to make a wish, too?” 

She grinned at him. “And close your eyes.” Her voice was eager, soft, anxious. 

He obeyed and thought for a long moment before taking a deep breath. As he exhaled, he felt something press against his cheek, but by the time he’d opened his eyes, Lily was back in place, only a blush giving her action away as he touched the spot on his cheek that she’d kissed. 

And all of a sudden, Severus Snape was no longer sure of anything, but Lily was pressing the box into his hands, and he was automatically opening the package to see an Ever-Inked Quill and saying all the right things. But in his mind, all he could see was Lily, kissing him. This first kiss was always what he thought about, afterwards. 

*******  
The first date was in fourth year, and by fifth year, it was clear that, despite house rivalries and disapproval from many people, Severus Snape and Lily Evans weren’t planning on breaking up anytime this century. This was to the eternal disappointment of James Potter, who didn’t exactly take the defeat gracefully. However, he had the Marauders behind him, and the smartest prankster in all of Hogwarts as his best friend. He would win, in the end. 

Fifth year had less fireworks than fourth. Their year-mates in all houses were dealing with O.W.L.s, and Sirius Black had little time to harass as his own family life disintegrated. Tom Riddle was making waves in the politics of the wizarding world, and this meant the circles that the Blacks and Potters traveled in, as well as other wealthy families. Sirius, in complete opposition to his parents and brother, ran away from home around Christmas, and moved in with the Potters at the end of the year as his brother become more and more entangled with the Slytherin crowd that looked to be Riddle’s new inner circle and recruits, for what, no one was really sure. But sycophants they clearly were. 

Invitations to the exclusive parties had come to Severus more than once, but he had little time for people who only wanted to flunky for a more powerful wizard. He had his eyes set on a higher prize - to become the youngest Potions Master in Britain, if not internationally, and marriage to Lily, eventually. 

Tom Riddle continued to curry favor among the older Slytherins and in the Ministry of Magic; and Lucius Malfoy grew closer to the older man and began to seek those among the younger children who had attitudes that Tom would approve of and could make use of, shaping them into his master’s perfect servants. 

Lily approached Professor Flitwick after the Christmas holidays about an eventual Charms Mastery and they began to work out a schedule to allow her to add a few tutoring sessions for the first years without overtaking her own schoolwork. 

****

Sixth year ended with a firefight on the lawns of Hogwarts. James and Sirius attacking Severus, with the other attempting to defend, as Lily had asked, and then in frustration, turning all of his skill to attack when the others refused to back off. 

Remus had stayed out of the matter, his words to Sirius fell on deaf ears, and his boyfriend was too stubborn to give up on his own. The mutt had prodded James until the other felt self-righteous enough to go on the offensive, and Peter, of course, was little more than cannon fodder, so Remus tried to keep the younger boy out of the spell lines. He did, however, keep an eye out for adults, but the other Marauders had chosen their day well. The professors were discussing the end of year tests in the faculty room, and the students they had left in charge were generally on the Gryffindors side and saw no reason to break up the fight unless someone got too badly injured. 

When Lily got word of the ridiculousness happening near the greenhouses, she raced out of Gryffindor Tower, the year mates who weren’t already down there followed with anticipation. This relationship was already the scandal of the school, and it looked to be imploding after five years. Finally, they would get to see the Slytherin who had insinuated himself among them get exactly what he deserved. 

The angry redhead hit the path at a trot and made her way down the side of the hill and around the curve, almost eleven inches of willow wood clenched in her fist. Later, people would claim she looked like a furious goddess or fae creature, come to earth to wreak havoc on idiot mortals. She strode right up to Severus and began to scream at him, jabbing her wand into his chest, though her words never made up a spell. But it looked threatening enough and Severus’ temper began to twist around to bear on her, James and Sirius stopping their casting long enough to stare, open-mouthed, at the unexpected implosion of the couple. 

Snape got hotter and hotter, until his own wand was pointed at Lily and he yelled back at her words that could never be taken back, nor did he looked as though he wished to do so. 

“You filthy little mudblood, how dare you!” he yelled, eyes black with fury, as he took two steps backwards. 

Lily stood there in shock, but others could move, and did, wands raised and spells were already being shot towards Severus as she ran off, tears streaming down her face as Sirius and James shot spell after spell at Severus, the other boy barely able to keep a shield up as he retreated, finally turning tail and running towards the lake, shouts of “Coward!” and less friendly epithets burning the air around him as they turned away from him to find Lily. 

Remus had run after Lily and directed her into an empty greenhouse and offering a non-judgemental shoulder to cry on, which she was using, profusely. James, Sirius, and Peter entered noisily, and the redhead wiped her face with Lupin’s offered handkerchief. 

“Sorry,” she whispered. “Don’t,” she said, stopping Sirius’ look of black glee and whatever he was going to say. “Just don’t. Leave me alone, both of you,” Lily added, pushing past them and out of the greenhouse, leaving them to rehash both the fight and what had just happened. 

*****  
Hogwarts talked of nothing else, including end of the year tests, until the train left Hogsmeade, and the transport was filled with speculation, as Lily spent the train ride with the Marauders, and Severus in a car with Lucius Malfoy and five other senior Slytherins. 

That summer, however, Severus and Lily enjoyed the memory of what well could have been the biggest prank in Hogwarts history - until they remembered why they’d done it, and the reality of the situation was quite sobering. 

Tom Riddle was styling himself Lord Voldemort these days, and far from being a mere political idealist, it appeared his modes of changing the wizarding world involved torture (and worse) of muggles, and anyone who didn’t agree with him. And he wanted them. Or their skills, at least. Severus had been actively recruited all year, despite his refusals, by Lucius and Narcissa, the undisputed head students of Slytherin, and Lily had gotten an inquiry as to where her loyalties lay through the Slug Club, of all things. 

She’d sent back a politely worded refusal through the potions professor, and nothing more was said about it to her. But Severus certainly heard about it from Lucius, who was encouraging him to convert Lily to their side, and then ,to Voldemort’s cause. Her charms skill and talent for creating new spells was something the Dark Lord coveted, and what he wanted, usually he got. 

This made them more and more nervous, until at last Lily had confessed her fears to Remus late one night in the Gryffindor common room, breaking down and admitting that while she trusted Severus implicitly, she was afraid that Malfoy would eventually make her boyfriend an offer he couldn’t refuse. 

Remus had only friendship to offer her, and reassurance that everything would be fine. They grew closer as sixth year ended, though she never confided in him what she and Severus had planned. 

It was laughably simple - and Sirius was hotheaded enough to fall into their trap. Severus started it, taunting the Gryffindors and drawing them out of the castle.. He let them throw the first spell, which of course would escalate into a free-for-all, at which point Lily would come out of the castle, having noticed the violence and seriousness of this latest battle, and have the last straw fight with Severus. 

It was their plan to have as many students watching as possible to carry the story to all corners of the school, and especially to Slytherin and Lucius Malfoy, who would carry it directly to Voldemort, and hopefully, draw the wizard’s gaze off of both of them, but at the very least, Lily. 

Now, halfway through summer, they believed they had succeeded. Until a knock came on the open half-door of the Evans Bakery, surprising both of them. 

“James?” Lily asked in shock, dusting flour off her hands onto the ball of dough she’d been kneading. Severus lifted his head from the Potions book he was studying with a perplexed look that turned sour as he realized who had come to Cokeworth. 

James Potter looked like he’d recently gone on a bender. His usually artfully messy hair was sweaty and sticking every which way and he looked panicked. The sound of a motorcycle kicked off in the background and Severus groaned, shutting his book. “Marvelous. The dog, too.” 

“Sev, be nice,” she snapped. “James, come inside. You look terrible.” 

“I don’t feel much better,” he admitted, sitting down at the long table. Severus scooted down the bench seat to lean against the wall, putting his book away and turning to face outwards. “Bad news, Lil.” 

Sirius appeared in the doorway, grimaced at Severus, then shut both halves of the door. “Snivvy,”   
he greeted Severus. 

“Mutt,” Severus replied. 

:Lily took off her apron and sighed. “Shut up, both of you. Now what are you two doing here?” She sat down across from Severus and looked expectant. 

For once, even Sirius looked serious, and James looked downright upset. “There was a party a couple of weeks ago - a pureblood party. We had to go,” he defended himself against their looks. 

“So you got wasted with a bunch of idiots,” Lily said, and Severus snorted, agreeing. “That doesn’t usually make you unhappy.” While she didn’t like their partying ways, it was really none of her business. 

“Voldemort’s coming after you, Lily!” Sirius spat out. “He knows you and Snape are still - “ he looked utterly disgusted. “together, and he’s pissed. He thinks you lied to him.” 

“Well, it’s not like we didn’t,” Lily said. “We knew the odds were that it might not work. We’ll just be more careful, is all.” But Severus looked more disturbed. He knew what Voldemort did to people who made him angry. And it made him feel almost as sick as James looked at the idea of that happening to Lily. 

‘So what do you suggest we do?” he said, sitting up and piercing Sirius with a look. “You’re the master prankster, loathe as I am to admit it.” Sirius bowed from the neck. “Since our plan was...flawed, perhaps you can come up with something better.” 

Sirius looked as pleased as it was possible to be under the circumstances. James wandered over to the sink and stood there drinking water like it would drown the memory of the rumors. 

“Yeah, I’ve got loads of ideas. But the best one is for you to date James.” 

Lily’s mouth gaped open, Severus exploded, and a shower of water sprayed over all of them as James lost control of his faculties, coughing or laughing or choking, or possibly all three as Severus lambasted Sirius about exactly how terrible an idea that was, and Sirius defended his idea, both at top volume, neither of whom could shout down Lily when she tried, like now. 

“You want me to what, Sirius Orion Black? Sit down, Severus. He’s not serious, he can’t be.” 

For once, no one took the bait, and SIrius crossed his arms and shut up while they worked themselves around to the clear genius of his plan. 

It took them the rest of the summer to hammer the details out, and bringing Remus in on the scheme let them identify holes and problems, including what to do about Peter. It was decided not to tell the boy the truth - he was a friend, but perhaps one that could be too easily bought in times of war, which was where the wizarding world was clearly headed if Voldemort had his way - which he was, much too often. 

***********

September 1st, 1978

“I hate this,” Lily whispered in the darkness of her bedroom in the wee hours of September first of her seventh year at Hogwarts. Her Head Girl badge gleamed in the moonlight on her nightstand as Severus adjusted his arms around him. 

“I know. I wish there was another way. But I won’t lose you. Even I have to watch James Potter gloat all year. It’s just for a little while, I promise.You will always be mine, Lily Evans.” 

“Always?” 

His promise was dependable and firm as the kiss he gave her before slipping out of her window for the last time, at least in the foreseeable future. 

Eleven o’clock came too fast and she was saying goodbye to her parents at the train station and pushing through the barrier alone for the first time. The young man approaching her was tall and lean and _wrong_ , flashing a happy grin as he made his way through the crowds, his arm thrown high to wave to her. 

Lily couldn’t help but laugh at James’ antics, even if she wanted to cry. She felt a warm, solid presence behind her and an arm go around her waist. “Easy, there. You can do this.” 

Remus. Thank Merlin for Remus. She could and would do this. Her spine straightened as James approached them. 

“Hey, hands off my girl, mate!” James said, pulling her into a spin right there in the platform in front of everyone. He let her go to load her trunk onto the train, the other end yanked helpfully by Sirius. They boarded the train in a group, Remus bringing up the rear, James’ hand firmly wrapped around hers, pulling her down the train to the compartment Peter was sitting in. He was so glad to see her, it almost made Lily want to let him in on the secret. 

Not so thankfully, a distraction arrived. A group of seventh year Slytherins passed, Severus leading them as Lucius’ successor, and the look on his face was pure hatred as he raked his gaze over all of them, landing on her last. Lily thought she saw his lip tremble for a fraction of a second before his face froze into a disgusted scowl and he muttered, “Mudblood lovers,” before striding away down the compartment. 

Remus slid the door closed before she could say or do anything unfortunate and pulled her down to sit between he and Sirius. She switched places with Peter to sit beside James and tried very, very hard to remember that this was a scheme to keep her and Severus safe, and not her worst nightmare come to life.

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by the Severitus challenge, and the 1997 song by Tonic, which I've used as the title. 
> 
> Most dates are consistent with the latest Pottermore/HP Wiki information. I’ve mostly only changed the dates surrounding the First War and Voldemort’s rise to power.


End file.
